


He Was Drinking Again—The Grifter Replacement Job

by crayonbreakygal



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-24
Updated: 2016-03-24
Packaged: 2018-05-28 17:59:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6339616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tara is almost as good as Sophie, but she isn't Sophie.  Takes place during The Bottle Job, season two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He Was Drinking Again—The Grifter Replacement Job

Takes place during The Bottle Job, season two

He Was Drinking Again—The Grifter Replacement Job

Nate noticed that Eliot was on the prowl for some female companionship. It made him miss Sophie even more. Tara was not a replacement for the grifter. She was just a place holder, he thought. The place where Sophie could come back when she was ready, if she was ever ready to face the team, him.

The fact that Tara fooled them into thinking she was a lawyer hired by his client pissed him off. She played the part well, too well. He wouldn’t say better than Sophie could have done, but different. She used her enthusiasm and wide eyes to make it seem like she wasn’t manipulative, but was enjoying it nonetheless. Of course she was enjoying it. Tara wanted to get paid.

Tara was just as gifted a grifter as Sophie was. Nate found that he could work with her. The team seemed to respect her for what she was. Not that he trusted her like he did Sophie. No one could take her place in that regard.

Sophie needed to find herself and come back as soon as possible. Too many mistakes had been made without her input. Tara tended to take chances where Sophie wouldn’t. And he didn’t hesitate to put her in danger, unlike the caution he took with Sophie. That was the problem. His work was becoming affected by the fact that he wouldn’t put Sophie in any amount of danger. Their jobs were dangerous. That was a given.

He didn’t flinch when he left Tara in the hands of the Chinese Triad. She could take care of herself well enough. He would have never done that with Sophie. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. He did. It’s that he couldn’t do it, leave her.

He watched Tara work on the Irish loan shark like a pro. The fact that she could seduce anyone, anytime was amazing. Nate felt guilty that he actually physically reacted when she readied herself to con the man. It was almost a punch to the gut as he watched her get into character, pulling up the skirt, pulling down the shirt to show her ample cleavage. The swing of the hair and the hips had him mesmerized if just for a moment as she walked over to the Irishman. Dammit, he missed Sophie.

He knew that Hardison and Eliot looked their fill too when Tara was around. It was difficult not to with how she dressed and acted. When she smiled their way, they both stopped and stared. Hell, he wouldn’t have thought that Eliot would fall for that, but he did. Hardison did, hook, line and sinker. Parker wasn’t even above her charms.

The whiskey dulled his inhibitions. Eliot glared at him when he took that first drink. It felt like coming home. Tara didn’t seem to care though. He’d get hell from his team, but not her. She was all about the job. He needed that right at that moment.

Taking the Irish loan shark down had felt good, damn good. He had whiskey flowing through his veins, Sophie was nowhere to be seen and his team was still intact, if a little miffed at him.

“Nice work, Nate,” Tara told him after the con was over.

The bar had closed finally, lights turned low. The snow was still falling, making the room quiet and peaceful. Nate poured himself yet another drink and downed it in one gulp.

“Didn’t think we could do it.”

“Neither did I. You were a little sadistic there at the end.”

“He deserved it. I did it to make a point.”

Tara sat directly in front of him, sipping her drink carefully. She hadn’t changed her outfit one bit since the con started. Did she know and not care?

The others had taken off not long after the bad guys had scattered. They certainly didn’t want to be around him when he drunk himself into oblivion. Tara was too new to know what would happen.

“I doubt good old daddy will lend him any more money.”

Tara got up to leave. He groaned as he noticed her cleavage once again. Dammit, Sophie.

“Yep.” He poured another.

“Your head is not going to thank you in the morning, Nate. Go easy.”

Rising, he thought about what he’d feel like in the morning and did not care. Stumbling, Tara caught him before he fell. The contact shocked his system a little, making him pull away from her. Only she didn’t want him to do that.

“Here, let me help you upstairs before you break something.”

Nate noticed that Tara smelled good. Not like Sophie or Parker. Sophie always smelled mysterious, exotic. Parker sometimes smelled of oil, cereal or strawberries. He could smell the jasmine that must have been in her shampoo. She turned to look at him, head mere inches from his own. Guilt surfaced in his thoughts on what he could do. And he didn’t think that Tara would mind one bit if he did. Nate’s eyes narrowed. He’d been conned.

“She set this up, didn’t she?”

Tara smiled, then scrunched up her eyes, contemplating what he had said.

“Set what up? I’m not following you.”

“Sophie. She set this up.”

“The con? Nate, you’re not making any sense.”

“Why you? Why are you here?”

“Because we’ve been friends a long time and she trusts me to do the job.”

If the job was to seduce Nate so Sophie wouldn’t feel guilty for leaving, then yes, she could do the job. He would never find out because if he confronted Sophie, she’d deny everything. Nate raised his eyebrows to her because he knew she was much smarter than that.

“Hey, that is not why she sent me. Doesn’t mean it couldn’t a perk though. And the money.”

Nate smiled at her answer. Just what he thought.

“Don’t do that. Smile. Throws me off. And she was right.”

Sophie was right? Nate’s mind started to fog over just a bit as the alcohol dulled his brain.

“About?”

“You are irresistible in that I’m a sadistic bastard sort of way. Totally not my type. I like my men a bit more, would you say, nicer.”

“Nicer? I’m nice.”

“Since when?”

Not since Sophie left, that was for sure. Tara grabbed his jacket and pulled him to her, capturing his lips. So different from Sophie. Tara took control from the start, almost sucking the life out of him.

“There, see? Got that out of the way. Now, come on. Let me help you to your door before you keel over.”

“I’m not drunk,” he managed to get out.

“Just sexually frustrated and annoyed right now.”

She led him to his front door, handed him the keys and left before he had opened the door.

 

“So how’d the con go? Is Cora OK?”

Sophie and Tara talked frequently about what was going on with the team. Sophie knew she’d have to keep her fingers in what was going on. She couldn’t resist. Plus, she wanted to make sure everyone was OK. What better person to look after them than Tara?

“Irish loan shark is gone. With a few broken fingers. Nate decided to give him a going away present.”

“He broke the guy’s fingers?”

“Yeah. The three cops said that he’s just like his father. His father must be a son of a bitch because Nate was on fire last night.”

Sophie pondered what her friend was telling her.

“He’s drinking again, isn’t he?”

“Yep.”

Dammit, Nate. She knew it would be hard on him not having her around, but she never wanted him to start drinking again.

“How are the others?”

“Angry at him for drinking. Sorry, I didn’t know he had stopped. I just assumed.”

“What? That he’s that big of an asshole without drinking? He’s worse. Much worse when he’s had a few.”

“Why do you put up with this? You could do anything, go anywhere, Sophie?”

“I, it’s the team, I guess. I kind of like being part of the team.”

Tara smirked. “Yeah, it has nothing to do with Nate’s I’m sexy because I’m broken thing.”

Sophie glared at her friend. She could see signs that something had happened between Nate and Tara. That was not her intention at first. She knew her friend played the grift much differently. Sophie was sophisticated and subtle. Tara was friendly and in your face. And the woman had a killer body, but that was beside the point.

Voices were heard off in the distance, so Tara waved goodbye before Sophie was done with her interrogation. Tara would never willingly seduce Nate. But what about the other way around? Nope, his guilt would win out, at least for now. Sophie never wanted to push Nate in another direction, much less toward her friend. Maybe she had made the wrong choice?

What if the wrong choice was going away in the first place? Nate was drinking again, possibly looking at other women, and hopefully not destroying the team because of all of it. How would she go back now? It seemed to be more of a mess now than when she left.


End file.
